This invention relates generally to interactive voice response networks and, more particularly, relates to a system and method for supporting platform independent speech applications.
As described in published PCT patent application WO 00/65814, interactive voice response (“IVR”) systems are rapidly becoming ubiquitous in everyday life. In this regard, IVR systems are commonly used to automate certain tasks that otherwise would be performed by a human being. More specifically, IVR systems are systems which create a dialog between a human caller and/or speaker and a computer system to perform tasks on behalf of the speaker.
As further described in WO 00/65814, current IVR systems are typically implemented by programming computer hardware with special-purpose software. In a speech-enabled IVR system, the software includes telephony services, a speech recognition engine, text-to-speech (TTS) services, audio and DTMF handling, audio recording services, and a speech enabled application. For defining a dialog interaction between a speaker and a speech recognition mechanism, WO 00/65814 describes the use of speech objects. Each speech object is used to acquire a particular type of information from the speaker during an interaction between the speaker and the speech recognition mechanism. More particularly, a speech object is an instantiation of a user-extensible class that includes properties, such as prompts and grammars, associated with the corresponding type of interaction. A speech object also includes logic for controlling the interaction with the speaker when executed in a processing system.
Disadvantageously, the speech objects disclosed in WO 00/65814 are “fat client” objects that are required to be executed on a native IVR server, or remotely, but under the control of a native IVR application call flow, i.e., speech object applications, in combination with the native IVR call flows that control them, are platform dependent. Since a speech object application requires the use of the call flow interpreter, scripting language, and speech recognition resources that reside on, and/or are tightly coupled to, the native IVR platform and/or speech recognition vendor, speech object applications are not readily portable to the IVR platforms of other vendors. Thus, a complete speech object application is required to be coded specifically for use in connection with one and only one native IVR platform. Furthermore, speech objects suffer the disadvantage of failing to have the capability to emit call flow directives such as VXML.
A further example of an IVR environment is seen in the “Vonetix” system marketed by Gold Systems, Inc. In this regard, like the systems disclosed in WO 00/65814, the native IVR platform call flow scripting language is still required in order to build the application and drive the call flow. Accordingly, the “Vonetix” system suffers from the same disadvantages previously noted with respect to the environments disclosed in WO 00/65814.
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that developing IVR speech applications presently requires an unusual and complex combination of infrastructure investments and application development expertise. Users currently desiring IVR speech applications are disadvantageously required to develop applications which can be executed only on a specific, special-purpose IVR platforms which IVR platform can cost more than $50,000 per server. The expense associated with developing IVR speech applications coupled with the high cost of the underlying special-purpose IVR hardware platforms prevent many users, such as small business owners, from updating their IVR applications and/or changing the underlying IVR platform which is used to support interactive voice customer care and support. Accordingly, a need exists for a platform independent application environment which can be used to provide portable IVR applications, not simply portable speech recognition or TTS services.